There were more than one million admission to NHS hospitals in 2019/20 where obesity was a factor, according to new figures1 published by NHS Digital today.

The Statistics on Obesity, Physical Activity and Diet; England, 2021 is an annual compendium of data on obesity, including hospital admissions, prescription items, obesity prevalence among adults and children as well as physical activity and diet.

The data contained in the report shows that a total of 1.02 million Finished Admission Episodes (FAEs)2 were recorded with obesity as a primary or secondary diagnosis3, an increase of 17% on 2018/194. Some of this increase may be due to improved recording.

However, the number of admissions where obesity was recorded as the main cause fell to 10,780 from 11,117 in 2018/19.

Women accounted for two-thirds (64%) of admissions where obesity was a factor.

The report revealed that there were 6,740 Finished Consultant Episodes (FCEs)5 with a primary diagnosis of obesity and a main or secondary procedure of ‘Bariatric Surgery’ in 2019/20. This marked a fall of 4% on 2018/19 (7,011).

In 2019/20, 80% of patients who underwent bariatric surgery were female.

In Primary Care, the number of prescribed items for obesity treatment dropped by 17% in 2020 to 294,000 items from 355,000 items in 20196.

The Net Ingredient Cost7 of prescribed drugs decreased by 16% in 2020 to £8.8m from £10.4m.

Further information signposted in the compendium taken from previously published reports includes:

Obesity Prevalence

27% of men and 29% of women were obese. Around two thirds of adults were overweight or obese, this was more prevalent among men (68%) than women (60%)8
Children living in the most deprived areas were more than twice as likely to be obese, than those living in the least deprived areas9
3% of Reception children living in the most deprived areas were obese compared to 6.0% of those living in the least deprived areas9
5% of Year 6 children living in the most deprived areas were obese compared to 11.9% of those living in the least deprived areas9

Physical activity and diet

9% of adults were classed as inactive in 2019/2010